


Telling Father

by CaptainDashingRapscallion



Series: Those Left Behind [2]
Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men Evolution
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Background RemyPietro, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-31
Updated: 2014-03-31
Packaged: 2018-01-17 15:50:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1393447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDashingRapscallion/pseuds/CaptainDashingRapscallion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pietro, having told Wanda about his enlistment, now needs to tell Magneto. The only issue is he has no idea how the news will be taken and as such is feeling extremely nervous about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Telling Father

Casting a glance around his bedroom, Pietro sighed and then fastened the satchel which contained his few belongings and change of clothes for his journey to Wundagore and subsequent stay. It had been a few days since he'd first received his letter, and he had another day or so to sit out, but he wanted to be ready to go. Not just to be prepared, but also because he was yet to tell Magneto, and if his father did kick off it'd be best he just went early. He also had not managed to find the words to tell Remy, but he was less worried about the Cajun's reaction at this stage because his father's reaction was all he could bear to bring his mind to worry about.

Since he'd told Wanda the mood between them had been subdued, but the closeness of their bond was highlighted more than ever. During training they'd probably driven their father to distraction, refusing to attack each other, and spending more time than necessary on their teamwork, but he found he couldn't give a damn. He wouldn't spend his last few days with his sister fighting her. They were both too emotional for that. He was pretty sure Remy had noticed too; the playful spark of sass and quips that flit between them dulled by Pietro's preoccupation with what he had to do. The Cajun was yet to ask him what was on his mind, but the speedster had no doubt that if he didn't tell him soon then Remy would do all he could to find out.

Heaving a sigh, he sat down on the bed next to his bag and picked up the crinkled papers he hadn't ceased reading over since the day they arrived, almost as if by re-reading them he could change their contents. It still seemed surreal that the High Evolutionary would call on one as young as himself to serve, he was just a boy technically. But then, he'd never really been just a boy, he hadn't been allowed that much. He gazed over the text one last time, then decided it was time to start talking. Magneto,  _his father_ , had a right to know what the coming days held for him.

It wasn't that he'd been avoiding telling his father on purpose, he had no doubts that it was something that did need saying, but he just could not work out how. For all his speed, Pietro's thoughts could not dash past the obstacle of worry over how his father will react to the news. His own views on how his father should react were conflicted. He didn't want anger, that would only ignite his temper, but he didn't want the cold shoulder either. He sighed and lay back on the covers, staring at the ceiling. The only thing he was sure on was that he wanted his father to  _ **care**_. To have some emotion about his son, his  _only_  son, being summoned to war. Given their tentative relationship, he wasn't even sure he'd get that.

Letting the seconds drag themselves past him at snail's pace, the speedster continued his staring match with the ceiling whilst gathering an idea of how to break the news to Magneto. The words were hard to find, but he doubted flinging the papers down on the Brotherhood leader's desk would be a good approach either. And speaking of the papers, how would his father react to him taking his name? Would he be told to change it, after rejecting it before? Or would it finally give him that little bit more trust in his father's eyes, proving his dedication and loyalty to the man if not the cause? His father was still an enigma to him and so he couldn't fathom the fallout of this latest development.

Eventually, he couldn't abide sitting still any longer and he jumped to his feet, heading to the door of his father's office. He raised his hand to knock on the sheet of metal that stood in the place of a door, papers in his hand as he hesitated for just a second, and then brought his hand down on the metal twice. The knocks echoed far too loudly for his liking and he shifted from foot to foot as he waited for an answer.

"Magneto, its Quicksilver... I need to talk to you..." he started, then his voice dropped to barely a whisper "As a son to a father."

He received no response for a minute, which to Pietro felt like an age dragging on without an end in sight, but just as he was about to leave the metal rippled and fell back.

"Enter."

The single command did not boost Pietro's hopes, but he walked into Magneto's office, not using his mutation in a hope it would show some level of respect for his father, that he was slowing down for him. After all, even though he was going, Wanda and Remy would both still be left behind, so he needed to not anger his father just in case.

The office itself was spartan, with furniture all formed out of metal, and maps with pins tacked all over them of the Brotherhood activities melded to the wall. Magneto himself held an impressive figure, sitting behind his desk, head encased in that anti-telepath helmet which showed very little of his facial expression. To his right a Newton's cradle rocked steadily, setting a clacking through the room. It was somewhat unnerving.

"What is it you wish to speak to me about, Quicksilver?" Magneto asked, and Pietro felt his heart drop. If his father wouldn't even use his own name, and not the alias he had been gifted, then what hope did he have of trying to connect with the man to explain the situation.

"It is a delicate matter. I need to take a leave of absence from the Brotherhood to pay an old debt." Pietro began to explain, watching his father closely for any sign that could clue him into the man's reaction. However Magneto had long since learnt to hide such obvious giveaways.

"And what debt, Quicksilver, could be important enough to neglect your duties as a mutant to forging a path to salvation for your kind?"

His father's tone sounded dangerous, but Pietro knew that this was his opening. If he could only make his father see, then maybe he stood a chance of getting out and doing the job without another disappointment speech ringing in his ears and a ton of self-loathing weighing him down.

"A life debt. Wanda's and mine. The High Evolutionary has called me to serve for a time in his war in order to repay him and his for taking Mother in and ensuring we were born safely and sent to a good home. It would be unwise to let the debt linger." Pietro explained, digging the letter out of his pocket and holding it out for his father to read, should he wish to. Magneto did indeed take the letter, scanning the contents in silence as he absorbed the information he was given. Besides him the Newton's cradle's click doubled in speed, the only sign that he was affected by the discussion; more specifically by the mention of Pietro and Wanda's mother.

"I see. And you cannot refuse him? This will take you away from the cause for a good portion of time." Magneto questioned, handing Pietro back his letter.

"No. If I refuse, he will go to Wanda, and of the pair of us we both know that it is far safer to send me. I can escape more quickly should I need to and although the High Evoloutionary did us a great kindness, he is at heart a geneticist and I would not trust him with Wanda's DNA over my own. She is also less likely to take to the task in question. The High Evolutionary is fighting in the Savage Lands, which as far as I am aware calls for an archaic form of war."

"Quite so. I have been to these lands. Their technology tends to be primitive." Magneto agreed, and then clasped his hands together. "I suppose in order to settle the debt I must let you go. Try to be back sooner rather than later though Quicksilver, the needs of our brothers and sisters far outweigh a man and his skirmishes."

"There's one more thing..." Pietro murmured, pulling out his enlistment form and staring down at it. "I guess you should know. I'm signing up under your name. I know last time you offered me your name I reacted badly, but if I am to go to war I shall go as your son. If that's not a problem..." he murmured, hesitantly.

Magneto was silent, gesturing for the form, which when given he scrutinised, eyes making contact with the untidily scrawled 'Pietro Django Lehnsherr'. Next to him, the Newton's cradle doubled once again in speed, and then juddered to a standstill. Pietro held his breath as he watched his father put the form down on the desk, and gesture upwards. He waited for the metal to slam into him, or to be thrown out, but instead Magneto's helmet lifted from his head, as the metal manipulator finally allowed himself to be Erik.

"I am glad you have chosen to take my name, Pietro. Wear it proudly." Erik seemed to hesitate, unsure how to speak to the boy in front of him who was about to embark on a task bigger than he was ready for, in his opinion. He stood and walked round to stand next to his son, leaning so he could meet him eye to eye while resting both hands on his shoulders.

"Make sure you come back. Wanda will need you and the cause needs you." he insisted, his unsaid fear of having his son die before him laced in his words. "I shall look after her well and do all I can for her. But come back to her."

"I shall Father." Pietro nodded. "And look after Remy too. Please!" he exclaimed desperately as a disapproving look crossed over his father's face. "I know you don't approve, but I care for him and I'm going away and if something happens to me I need to know someone will make sure he doesn't spiral out of control or do something stupid. Just keep him busy with tasks so he doesn't have time to miss me. And don't let him worry about me. Or Wanda. I'll have them send any messages to you before they go to Wanda. Just in case."

"You have thought this through. Very well, I shall keep an eye on them both, but you must understand Wanda is my priority. If her chaos magic was to get out of control-"

"I know what could happen. But Remy's more powerful than you give him credit for. It's only because he grates on your nerves you don't take him seriously. You should Father," Pietro chuckled, but then shook his head, fear clouding his face. "I still haven't told him I'm going. I needed to tell Wanda and you first. But now, I don't want to make him wait for me, I mean what if I don't even come back? That wouldn't be fair on him. I'm going to war. I could die. It's not like the movies I could get stabbed or injured badly or choked or killed or poisoned or tortured or kidnapped or -"

"Pietro!"

The shout from his father snapped the speedster out of his panicked ramblings. He stared wide-eyed at Magneto, hoping he hadn't angered him. "I now understand why you and Wanda have been inseparable over the past few days at least. As for Gambit, give him the choice to wait. Do not make the decision for him, he will not thank you for that. And in regards to the rest of that: You are going to come back. Yes there is a risk of dying or being injured but you are smart and quick and have a high chance of surviving. Do not carry fear son, it is the swiftest way to failure. Be confident in yourself and smart in battle and the odds will favour you."

Pietro swallowed back that bubble of fear and nodded, not trusting himself to speak, instead he stood there relishing on the firm grip on his shoulders, anchoring him to the current point in time. He let the seconds tick by, not wanting to move, but eventually the moment faded and Erik released him.

"Now go and tell Gambit before your sister does it for you and prepare yourself. The Brotherhood and I will be awaiting your return."

Pietro nodded again, not speaking, but instead retreating from the room with a shaky hope that his relationship with his father was still salvageable and a sinking pit in his stomach about how to break the news to Remy. Whatever happened, he needed to cause the Cajun the least pain possible, and if that meant letting him go, then that's what he'd do, despite the hurt that would cause him.  


End file.
